Labor fires broadside over minister’s ‘sectarianism’

Labor has attacked Simon Birmingham for claiming Victorian Catholics could be “bought by a few pieces of silver”.

Minister for Education Senator Simon Birmingham has questioned Bill Shorten’s ‘special deal’ with Victorian Catholics.

Labor MPs launched a broadside against Simon Birmingham for claiming Victorian ­Catholics could be “bought by a few pieces of silver”, calling on him to apologise and warning of a return to “sectarianism” in Australia.

The co-ordinated Senate showdown yesterday took place even as scrutiny over Bill Shorten’s “special deal” with Catholics — which he credited with helping his party win the Batman by-election after a campaign by the Melbourne Catholic Education Office — began to mount.

Grattan Institute director and school funding analyst Peter Goss said Mr Shorten’s commitment of $250 million extra for Catholic schools over two years was not transparent. “Some Catholic schools leaders have clearly been lobbying Labor very hard to look after their interests,” he said.

“The leaked letter seems to suggest that Labor are listening. But, in the absence of an actual policy announcement, we don’t have any clarity about why Labor thinks that this money is needed.”

Mr Goss said without releasing its own methodology or policy on how it intended to apportion funds in the future, it was impossible to tell if Mr Shorten’s pledge constituted a “special deal”.

“If it is simply a special deal to satisfy a noisy group of stakeholders, they should expect everyone else to come knocking and that won’t be pretty from the perspective of good policy.”

Australian Council of State School Organisations president Phillip Spratt labelled Mr Shorten’s offer a “spectacular, special deal” and accused him of pursuing “irrational and illogical policy in the scrabble for votes”.

Catholic Labor MPs, including Victorian senator Jacinta Collins, NSW senator Deb O’Neill and South Australian senator Don Farrell, lined up yesterday to ­attack Senator Birmingham for his remarks.

Senator Farrell invoked the memory of his Irish-Catholic ­ancestors who were turned away from work under the “bad old days of sectarianism” before calling on Senator Birmingham to set the ­record straight.

Senator Birmingham said Mr Shorten’s “partisan move’’ had ‘‘astonished many parents, family and staff of schools’’.